This was a really condensed reading. What I really resonated with, from the article, was the questioning towards the exclusion of certain studies, especially law. For example, we all know a thing so called "marriage" since we were in the elementary school, and that most of us were told that it is something virtually everybody is going to come across in their lives. But marriage is actually, to a large extent, a legal contract, which the young are very often not taught about what exactly is that contract about. It was quite upsetting, when I read Eisner wrote "We teach what we teach largely out of habit". In BC, we have Law Studies 12 as an option of social studies 12, which is great. But I think the importance of law education, is likely more than just an option which students may take in their grade 12.
There were also quite a few thing that I've rarely thought about, highlighted by Eisner in the chapter. One of them was the effect of fixed timetable education to student's working habit. I've never really reflected upon this fixed-timetable-scheme in education system, and I can hardly comment on it yet. But indeed, sub-dividing a day into multiple fixed sections to work on multiple subjects, does not sounds necessarily like the most efficient way of learning or working in general. And this connects to Eisner's argument of, how the fixed forms and patterns we teach in school might constrain students instead of inspire them. This reading made me ponder about, how may I encourage students to learn creatively in my class, instead of having me "teaching" them how to use the "tools". To some extent, aren't all assignments essentially constraining the way students learn?
I really enjoyed this response. Your point about marriage as a legal contract was such a sharp example of the null curriculum — something almost everyone encounters but that school rarely prepares us for. It made Eisner’s line about teaching “out of habit” feel very real.
ReplyDeleteI also liked how you reflected on the timetable. Even if you don’t have a full answer yet, you’re asking good questions about whether the way we slice up the school day actually helps learning. And the way you tied that back to your own practice — wondering if assignments themselves can sometimes box students in — shows you’re thinking like a teacher already.
If you wanted to push this a little further, you could take one of those questions (like assignments being constraining) and sketch out how you might work around it in a classroom. Are all assessments useful? What can they bring to the classroom and what may they block?